To celebrate the birthday of a great author and a lovely person, I am doing a giveaway. But first of all:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HANNAH!!! One year more and adding up 🙂 Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com
Let me introduce you to author HANNAH LYNN.
Hannah Lynn is an award-winning novelist. Publishing her first book, Amendments – a dark, dystopian speculative fiction novel, in 2015, she has since gone on to write The Afterlife of Walter Augustus – a contemporary fiction novel with a supernatural twist – which won the 2018 Kindle Storyteller Award and the delightfully funny and poignant Peas and Carrots series. While she freely moves between genres, her novels are recognisable for their character driven stories and wonderfully vivid description. She is currently working on a YA Vampire series and the reimaging of a classic Greek myth. Born in 1984, Hannah grew up in the Cotswolds, UK. After graduating from university, she spent ten years as a teacher of physics, first in the UK and then around Asia. It was during this time, inspired by the imaginations of the young people she taught, she began writing short stories for children, and later adult fiction Now as a teacher, writer, wife and mother, she is currently living in the Austrian Alps.
Receiving the Kindle Storyteller 2018 award.
You could read my review here of the winning novel: The Afterlife of Walter Augustus.
Although you have read on her biography some of the parts I am going to mention, just indulge me and read them again 🙂
Hannah Lynn writes different genres but her writing is simply awesome. Her use of adjectives in descriptions; her use of beautiful-to-the-ear words… yes, I am talking as a linguistic nerd but, that is what I am deep inside (maybe not so deep 😉 ). Moreover, she writes very entertaining stories with characters whose personality is developed and in tune with real people, with “normal” people. I am not saying that all her stories are real life but some of her characters are people that we can relate to. As an example, Letty is a lady who has a non-qualified job but she is content with that… more or less. In Peas and Carrots, Eric works in London, works all day and has barely any time for anything. These are two examples of characters that you can relate to and you may even know similar people. Said that, it does not mean that the events that occur in their lives have to be “normal”. I really hope that I never experience Letty’s story!
So far, as mentioned, Hannah Lynn has published five books and she is working on new titles that are promising. I keep telling her to carry on writing books on the Peas and Carrots series!
I only need to read Amendments from her published books. I have enjoyed so much the other four books and I highly recommend them. That is why I am doing a giveaway of three of her books.
However, I am giving away ebooks instead of paperbacks. But “bear” with me! I have never gifted kindle ebooks before, so I need to check that it works. Although, the three winners, in case, I cannot get the kindle ebook sent, will have a different present for sure, one paperback.
Some of you may think: why is it so difficult to gift the kindle ebook from Amazon, just buy it and send it… I will tell you why it is more complicated than that. As you may remember I do not live in England anymore, therefore, Amazon makes my life complicated when I try to gift ebooks. However, next week I will be back to England for holidays and I will take advantage and gift the winners from there.
Why ebooks and not paperbacks? Because there may be a bigger surprised for the three winners if I can get Amazon to let me gift ebooks… let’s leave it there.
How can you participate? It is very easy, just click on the Rafflecopter link below and follow instructions. Let me know by commenting this post if you already have one of her books.
One of the conditions that will help you to get points is to have “bought” the first ebook on the #peasandcarrots series: Peas, Carrots and an Aston Martin. The reason why I write “bought” is because it is free on Amazon. Unless it is Amazon Italy but it costs only 99 cents. Just double check before buying if you use a different Amazon account form the ones below. Amazon UKAmazon USAmazon CAAmazon FR
Commenting in this post will give you one point too towards the prize.
Terms and conditions: I will give/gift one kindle ebook to three winners (three ebooks in total) and in case that I cannot work it out, it will be an paperback. If you participate and win, you consent to share with me the email you use for receiving kindles. I will not share that email address with anyone apart from the Amazon website that requires me to give it in order to complete the present/gift. In case I have to send a paperback, you will have to share your post address and again, I will be the only person to use it and I will not share it (apart from writing it on the package or the website where I buy it). Both the email or the post addresses will have to be sent to the email address of this blog: myvicesandweaknesses (at) gmail (dot) com
What can be more romantic than Jane Austen? Yes, I know, a lot of different things can be very romantic but let’s be honest: if you love JAFF, Jane Austen is pretty high up on your list of romance, right?
Today I have the pleasure to present a compilation of lovely stories with our favourite characters created by Miss Austen.
A Very Austen Valentine: Book 2 is a compilation of six different stories by six different authors who love writing JAFF and who want to make our lives a bit better with a lot of love in their stories ❤
I was sent different things to share with you but I was told that I could choose the ones I wanted. It has been pretty difficult to choose, so… I am sharing all of them! I am already warning you that this is going to be a very long post but, as you may remember, I use different colours for different parts, so you could read everything or choose what you feel like reading.
First of all, let me introduce you to the authors although some of them are not new to My Vices and Weaknesses, I have the pleasure to introduce new authors.
Robin Helm
Robin Helm’s books reflect her love of music, as well as her fascination with the paranormal and science fiction. Previously published works include The Guardian Trilogy: Guardian, SoulFire, and Legacy (a guardian angel protects a supernaturally gifted girl), the Yours by Design series: Accidentally Yours, Sincerely Yours, and Forever Yours (Fitzwilliam Darcy switches places in time with his descendant, Will Darcy), and Understanding Elizabeth (Regency romance).
She contributed to A Very Austen Christmas: Austen Anthologies, Book 1, an anthology featuring like-minded authors, in 2017. A Very Austen Valentine: Austen Anthologies, Book 2was released on December 29, 2018. A Very Austen Romance: Austen Anthologies, Book 3is planned for December 2019.
She lives in sunny South Carolina and adores her one husband, two married daughters, and three grandchildren.
Readers are loving Laura Hile’s joyous Regency novels. Her signature style—with intertwined plots, cliffhangers, laugh-out-loud humor, and romance—keeps them coming back for more.
The comedy Laura comes by as a teacher. There’s never a dull moment with teen students! Laura lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and a collection of antique clocks. Her fiction is for everyone, even teens.
Wendi Sotis lives on Long Island, NY, with her husband and triplets. While searching for Pride and Prejudicefrom Darcy’s point of view, she became thoroughly enamored with Jane Austen Fan Fiction or JAFF. In early 2010, she dreamed of an idea for a story and hasn’t stopped writing since: Promises, Dreams and Expectations; All Hallows Eve; The Keys for Love; Safekeeping(with just a dash of Austen); The Gypsy Blessing; Foundation of Love(The Gypsy Blessing 2); and A Lesson Hard Learned.
The Marriage Pact, and some of Wendi’s works-in-progress, have branched away from JAFF to Regency Romance (the Loving an Aldridge Series) and Contemporary Romantic Mysteries (the Implicated series). Wendi will also continue bringing Darcy and Elizabeth together again and again in an unusual manner.
Barbara Cornthwaite lives in the middle of Ireland with her husband and children. She taught college English before “retiring” to do something she loves far more; her days are now filled with homeschooling her six children, trying to keep the house tidy (a losing battle), and trying to stay warm in the damp Irish climate (also a losing battle). She is surrounded by medieval castles, picturesque flocks of sheep, and ancient stone monuments. These things are unappreciated by her children, who are more impressed by traffic jams, skyscrapers, and hot weather.
Susan Kaye discovered Jane Austen and writing at about the same time. She leads a quiet life with her husband and dog, Harley. “I don’t know a lot, but I do know I’ve probably spent more time with Frederick Wentworth and Anne Elliot than just about anybody else.”
Mandy Cook was an RN for over ten years, half of which she served in the Navy, living in far-flung places, enjoying experiencing the world while following her calling. Just before she and her handsome Marine were both deployed to different places, they married. They now have three children, ages four and younger.
She previously published The Gifted, using her nursing experience to lend accuracy to her story about an ER nurse who is handed a gift that changes her life forever. Adversity, and a long history of secrets, constantly battle against her natural instinct for truth and justice, but will the truth be worth the dare?
Hello again! A lot of biography information but, don’t you think it is quite interesting to know a bit about the authors that we read? I did not know that Mandy was a nurse until I got the information, although I new Laura’s signature style. Barbara lives in lovely Ireland and most of them have big families.
I should start giving you some insight on the stories that you can read in this anthology. Please enjoy the blurbs below! There is sooooo much interesting stuff to read and so many characters involved that I do not know how I could have chosen to share one or the other….
I Dream of You by Robin Helm
Newly-married Elizabeth Darcy has a plan: to charm her too-busy husband into desiring her company as much as he did when he was courting her. A series of romantic dreams gives her just the push she needs to put that plan into action.
Sir Walter Takes a Wife by Laura Hile
Faced with a lonely future and finding himself strapped for cash, Persuasion’s Sir Walter Elliot manfully decides to marry again. But his careful plans go sadly awry! A lighthearted Valentine mash-up featuring two of Jane Austen’s worst snobs.
My Forever Valentine by Wendi Sotis
Jane and Charles Bingley have married, even though Miss Elizabeth Bennet remains certain Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy gave his best effort to keep them apart. After Mr. Darcy refused to stand up with Bingley and did not attend the wedding, she despises the gentleman more than ever and finds his company intolerable. How will she endure her visit to Kent if Mr. Darcy turns up everywhere she goes?
Pretence and Prejudice by Barbara Cornthwaite
A chance encounter with a handsome stranger forces Elizabeth to resort to subterfuge in order to discover his true intentions.
My Valentine by Mandy H. Cook
Little Charlotte was always determined and independent, traits which served her well as she battled a serious childhood illness and later as she took on Polite Society. Will those traits now deprive her of true love? Or would her lifelong Valentine win her heart?
The Lovers’ Ruse by Susan Kaye
In this Persuasion alteration, Anne is so altered by Wentworth’s love in the summer of 1806, she refuses to give him up when both her godmother and father try to persuade her. The Lovers’ Ruse follows Frederick and Anne through their whirlwind courtship and their secret engagement. When Wentworth returns for his Annie girl, the cat comes out of the bag.
Anne Elliot rebelling? Elizabeth having to entice Mr Darcy? Charlotte’s true love? OMG! How good this sounds to you?
Let’s welcome Laura Hile and her colleagues. She has some words for us about this lovely anthology.
Love and Friendship for Valentine’s Day
Ah, romantic love! It is what Valentine’s Day is all about. But there is also friendship love. And friendship is the foundation for our A Very Austen anthologies. These books came to be because the authors are friends.
Even though most of us have not met in person—Barbara lives in Ireland!—we are brought together by our love for Jane Austen, the Regency world of her novels, and our shared Christian faith.
What you will find in A Very Austen Valentineare stories with Jane’s characters. I find it remarkable that there is so much diversity. Robin’s is pure romance, as adorable Elizabeth Darcy seeks to recapture her too-busy husband’s interest. Mandy’s is a sequel to Pride and Prejudice, combined with characters from Sense and Sensibility. Wendi and Barbara take our beloved Darcy and Elizabeth through “but-what-if” angst and adventure. Susan turns back the clock for Persuasion’s Anne and Captain Wentworth and gives them another chance. And my novella? I bring two of Jane Austen’s worst snobs together in a comical Valentine mash-up.
I should add that the A Very Austen anthologies can be enjoyed by most readers, from teens to grandmas.
Now then. Just for you, I’ve written an extra scene from Sir Walter Takes a Wife. But wait, there’s more. We have excerpts! One is from Barbara Cornwaithe’s Pretense and Prejudice and another is from Sir Walter Takes a Wife.
Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoy this taste of our Valentine anthology.
Without further ado, let’s read the vignette and excerpts to make you even more interested in A Very Austen Valentine.
Excerpt from Sir Walter Takes a Wife by Laura Hile
As luck would have it—or was it destiny?—the entire company was asked to dinner. “Since the Collinses are to dine with us,” said Lady Catherine, “you might as well come too.”
Not, perhaps, the most elegantly-worded invitation, but Sir Walter was not about to quibble. Dinner at Rosings after only two days! Destiny was certainly efficient.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s dining room was exceedingly handsome, with a small army of servants on hand to attend. At its threshold Sir Walter paused to sigh. Glittering articles of plate, an enormous silver epergne, and candelabrums with crystal prisms graced the table. Magnificent! He was seated to the right of his hostess, an honour that was not lost on him. Mr. Darcy sat to her left.
As the meal progressed, Lady Catherine took admirable care to ensure that her guests were conversing amicably. “What is that you are saying, Fitzwilliam?”
Sir Walter now knew that she meant Darcy, not her military nephew—who was looking very smart in his regimentals.
“What is it you are talking of?” Lady Catherine went on. “What are you telling Miss Bennet? Let me hear what it is.”
“We are speaking of music, madam,” said he.
“Of music! It is, of all subjects, my delight. I must have my share in the conversation, if you are speaking of music.”
She turned to Sir Walter. “There are few people in England, I suppose, who have more true enjoyment of music than myself, or a better natural taste.”
“I know precisely what you mean,” agreed Sir Walter. “Do you know, if I had ever learned to play I should have been a great proficient.”
Lady Catherine opened her eyes at him.
“It has been left to my daughter, Anna, to be the musician. And let me tell you, Lady Catherine, you and I have invested our time in more worthy pursuits. Think of the countless hours spent learning a musical skill—and then practicing to keep it up—when the same enjoyment can be had simply by hiring musicians. They play while we dance.”
“The last time I danced,” said Lady Catherine dryly, “was at Almack’s years ago.”
Sir Walter was impressed. As the daughter of an earl, Lady Catherine certainly had the necessary connections. Here was more proof that she was just the wife for him.
“Almack’s,” she announced, “is bidding to become a den of depravity. You may well stare, Sir Walter, but I am told that members are requesting that the waltz be allowed. The waltz!”
The others at the table fell silent.
“I should certainly hope so,” said Sir Walter promptly. “It will never do to be behind the times.”
“You approve of this indecent display?”
“I beg to differ, dear lady. The waltz, or rather a milder version of it, la sauteuse, is not as scandalous as you suppose. In fact, if you will allow, I will gladly instruct you.”
“You dareto teach methe waltz?”
Sir Walter’s smile remained undimmed. It now occurred to him that the way to deal with a strong woman was to display confidence. “I shall teach you, your daughter, and everyone else,” he said easily. “The alternative, my dear, is to sit against the wall. The waltz is taking the polite world by storm, and there is nothing you or I or anyone else can do about it. Shall we have a little class tomorrow afternoon?”
“Here? In my house?”
“But of course. You cannot tell me that Rosings does not possess an elegant ballroom.”
“It does, but—”
Sir Walter looked down the table. “And I am sure that the excellentMrs. Jenkinson knows some waltzes and will be delighted to play for us.”
“But—” stammered Lady Catherine. “But—” She looked at the others seated around her at the table. “Well?” she demanded. “Haven’t you anything to say?”
Apparently no one did.
“Darcy?”
Sir Walter hid a smile, for Mr. Darcy had been gazing at Miss Bennet. He raised his eyes to meet his aunt’s. “As it is only a versionof the waltz, ma’am,” he said slowly, “and as this is not a publicassembly, I can see little harm in—”
“Bah!” cried Lady Catherine. She rounded on Colonel Fitzwilliam, who was grinning. “I know better than to ask for your opinion,” she said wrathfully.
He spread his hands. “We’ve been dancing the waltz at our embassies for several years, ma’am. It’s rather fun.”
“No thanks to the wretched Viennese!” she cried. “Well, Mr. Collins? Have you anything to say? What is your opinion?”
If ever there were a rabbit clothed in human skin, it was Hunsford’s rector. Sir Walter felt rather sorry for him. Mr. Collins’s eyes bulged in fear and he wrinkled up his nose, exposing rabbit-like teeth.
“I—I,” he squeaked, looking from Lady Catherine to Darcy to the grinning Colonel Fitzwilliam. “If it is danced at our embassies…”
“Oh!” cried Lady Catherine. “You are no help at all.”
“Come, dear lady,” said Sir Walter, more gently. “Tomorrow I shall give a demonstration, and you may decide for yourself whether or not you wish to learn.” He lowered his voice. “Wear the rose gown, my dear, and dance…”
Her silence told Sir Walter everything he needed to know.
What do you think? I could not leave this excerpt out, right? The dignified Lady Catherine de Bourgh! I hope you enjoy the following scene, written by Laura just for you. It is quite diverting 😉
A Trifle Disguised, He Said A bonus scene from Sir Walter Takes a Wife by Laura Hile.
In which Elizabeth Bennet and Charlotte Collins are delighted to participate, as they are not point-of-view characters in the novella and would like to have their say
Elizabeth Bennet set her teacup aside. “A trifle what?” she said, smiling.
Charlotte Collins gave her a look. “Disguised. That is how Mr. Collins phrased it, when I asked about last night. He said he was a trifle disguised.”
“Meaning that he was drunk.”
There was a small silence.
“My husband is many things, Eliza,” said Charlotte tartly. “But a drunkard he is not! I blame that Sir Walter Elliot. Did you notice? All through dinner he scarcely touched his wine. I think he saved it and, once we ladies went out, he forced Mr. Collins to drink it.”
“If so, it was deftly done,” observed Elizabeth. What else could she say?
“Oh, he is a sly one! I saw at once what Sir Walter was after; who could miss it? He wanted information about the estate.”
“I wonder why,” said Elizabeth.
“For nefarious reasons of his own, no doubt. If he is a baronet, which I daresay is a lie.”
Elizabeth had never known Charlotte to be so crabby. She decided to change the subject. “I did not realize that my cousin was so observant. Mr. Collins described each of the rooms in great detail. It was impressive.”
Charlotte sighed again. “Many of those descriptions,” she said, “are cribbed from her ladyship.”
“Cribbed,” repeated Elizabeth.
Charlotte smiled slightly. “It’s a schoolboy’s term; my brother John uses it. I fancy it means copied. Our, er, benefactress is quite particular about the beauties of the mansion. She likes them to be described just so. In fact—”
The dining room door banged open, and Mr. Collins stumbled in. “Oh!” he cried, bringing a hand to cover his eyes. “The light! Draw the draperies! At once, I beg you.”
Elizabeth hurried to comply, while her friend helped Mr. Collins take his seat at the table. “You will be better directly,” said Charlotte kindly.
“You needn’t shout! My head! Oh, there is nothing like it! The room is spinning round and round!”
“A nice breakfast will soon set you to rights. We have both bacon and sausage this morning, with some lovely fried bread and kidneys.”
Mr. Collins gave a perfectly genuine shudder. “Do not speak to me of food, Mrs. Collins,” he said loathingly.
Charlotte resumed her seat and poured out a cup of tea for her husband. “If you are ill, perhaps I ought to send for the apothecary.”
“That will not be necessary,” he snapped. “It was the wine; that is all. A little too much wine.”
Elizabeth spoke up. “But if you are ill, Mr. Collins…”
He opened a baleful eye. “And set my parishioners to talking? A fine thing!”
“You should have thought about thatlast night,” said his dutiful wife. “As it is, you had better chew on willow bark, or swallow raw eggs, or whatever it is gentlemen do when they ingest ‘a little too much wine.’ Because—”
Mr. Collins interrupted. “Have you no pity?” he wailed. “And how do you know about raw eggs? You have never been to university.”
Charlotte shared a look with Elizabeth. Then she glanced at the clock. “You have three hours to pull yourself together, Mr. Collins. At one o’clock, Sir Walter Elliot expects you to conduct a tour of the ornamental gardens.”
“A tour? Me?”
“Yes, a walking tour of the estate. By your express invitation.”
“But—there is nothing to see in the gardens now!” he protested. “The roses are barely in leaf.”
“And it is raining,” supplied Elizabeth.
Mr. Collins could only wail.
“Rain,” said Charlotte, “is what umbrellas are for. You and Sir Walter shall have a lovely walk together in the fresh air—so healthful! And I shall take a nap. I scarcely slept a wink all night.”
“You and me both,” grumbled Mr. Collins.
Charlotte pushed back her chair. “Nonsense. You were snoring loud enough to wake the dead. I’ll just see about your breakfast.”
She went out. “And I thought a wife would be a blessing,” muttered Mr. Collins.
“Oh, but she is,” said Elizabeth cheerfully. “And very much so. As long as one does not become—a trifle disguised.”
Could you have imagined Mr Collins in this state? I am not sure about Sir Elliot, not very nice so far.
Excerpt from Pretence and Prejudice by Barbara Cornthwaite
“Come in,” said Elizabeth, opening the door wider for him to enter. Darcy’s lantern made a cheerful glow in the large, gloomy space.
“Where is Peter?”
Elizabeth pointed to him, curled up on the sacking. Elizabeth’s shawl and coat were covering him, and Darcy could see her shivering.
“Here,” said Darcy, taking off his overcoat and putting it around her shoulders. “I’ve been walking and am quite warm.”
“Thank you,” she said gratefully.
“How long have you been here?”
“I don’t know, but I think it must be about an hour. The fog came up while we were petting the donkeys, and we walked for what seemed like miles trying to get home. I found myself back here at the mill, so I must have got turned around in my journey. I was too tired to keep going, and thought I would rest here for a while and see if the fog would lift.”
“That was wise.”
“I have been afraid the ladies might try to search for us themselves.”
“I think they were contemplating doing so when I came in. I offered to search for you, saying that I was afraid you would be very uncomfortable, and wish to get home.”
“That was very sensible of you, to allay their fears by referring to my comfort rather than my safety. At least you were not panicking as you were searching.”
“You know nothing about it, Miss Bennet. I cannot remember the last time I was so frightened.”
Elizabeth looked at him in surprise, a question in her eyes.
“I was terrified that something had happened to you. Both,” he added belatedly.
Elizabeth heard the ring of truth in his voice and saw the look in his eyes, and her heart began to thump.
Ooh! Mr Darcy was so worried! However, who is Peter? A cousin? A stable boy?
Excerpt from I Dream of You by Robin Helm
Her eyes filled with tears. “Fitzwilliam, you must stop fussing over me. Please, allow me to enjoy our time together. I have finished my meal, and I promise to eat heartily at midday and dinner. You have no idea how much I have anticipated spending a wonderful day with you. Will you not relent? The smell of the bacon puts me off.”
“I am sorry to make you unhappy. You must know I am complaining because I love you.” He took her hand in his. “I shall try to be more pleasant, or you may regret agreeing to be with me all day.”
“I know you love me, and that is the reason you pay such attention to whatever I do. I have heard other wives complain that their husbands ignore them, and I am very pleased to have married such an attentive man.” She squeezed his hand.
“As you are dressed in your habit, I assume you have plans to ride. May I come with you?”
His teasing tone fully restored her good humour.
“Of course,” she answered. “How can you teach me the finer points of horsemanship if we do not ride together? I have waited a month for this lesson with you, as Mr. Anderson assures me daily that I have much to learn, and you are the best one to teach me.”
“I may have to raise the man’s pay,” Darcy murmured, standing to hold his hand out to her.
Sims and Jenny awaited them at the front door, coats and hats at the ready. Once they were warmly dressed, he held the door for her, then escorted her to the stables. Mr. Anderson stood at the gate of the horse barn, holding Patience’s reins. Her saddle was slung over the adjoining fence.
Darcy looked at his stablemaster and raised a questioning brow.
“The mistress said you’d teach her to saddle the beast,” said the stablemaster, laughing under his breath. “I tried to tell ‘er ’twas too heavy. Wasted my breath, I did.”
The gentleman rolled his eyes a bit. “And now I shall waste mine.”
Elizabeth cleared her throat, placing her hands on her hips. “I can hear both of you, you know. Are you men saying I am stubborn?”
“Neither of us said that, my love. I think you are rather – ambitious,” he replied with a strained smile. “The saddle is heavy, and you are small. How shall you lift it so high? Also, the mare is too tall for you to throw it over her back. You barely reach my shoulder. You must have noticed that my chin rests easily atop your lovely head.”
“I am aware that it will difficult, husband, but I wish for us to find a way for me to do it. What if I need to saddle Patience, but all you men are busy? What if I am alone? You could be hurt, and I might have to ride to get help for you.”
He gently cupped her face with his hands. “So, you worry for me, too?”
“Of course, I do,” she answered, dropping her hands to her sides. “Especially when you are gone all day. I imagine all sorts of terrible things, for accidents happen quite often on farms. I saw far too much tragedy growing up at Longbourn.”
“Is that why you learned to ride?”
She nodded. “One of the reasons. I also wanted to be able to ride with you, to join you in something you enjoy doing.”
“May I make a suggestion?” he asked softly. “I know this morning is your time, and I agreed to do what you want. If you wish to spend the entire time learning to saddle Patience, we will do so; however, I fear you may be too tired at the end of the exercise to do anything else.”
Elizabeth lifted her eyes up to his. “You know more about this than I do. What do you suggest?”
“It cannot be done this morning, so you must be patient. As soon as is possible, I shall have some steps made for you, tall enough that you can saddle Patience and mount her without assistance. Do you agree?”
She thought for a moment. “I think your plan is a good one. Will you agree to teach me?”
He kissed her forehead, then lowered his hands. “Of course. Even though ’tis my intention that you never be alone with assistance unavailable, I do recognize that sometimes things happen which are out of my control.”
She turned her head to Mr. Anderson, giving him a sweet smile. “Please, saddle Patience. My husband and I are going riding.”
Stubborn and impatient Elizabeth, it is nice and entertaining, at least for me!
How much have you enjoyed all these presents from the authors of A Very Austen Valentine? I hope you are liking it. If you feel like buying the book, here you have some ways of doing it.
a) Ten eBooks of A Very Austen Valentine: Austen Anthologies, Book 2; International b) One Paperback Copy of A Very Austen Valentine: Austen Anthologies, Book 2; US only
Click on the link below and follow the instructions to participate. There will be one prize per person.
I hope you have enjoyed this post with amazing excerpts and information about a lovely anthology. I dearly thank Laura, Robin, Barbara, Mandy, Susan and Wendi.
What a great way of starting the year I have: introducing The Avenger: Thomas Bennet and a Father’s Lament by Don Jacobson!
You may be asking yourself, why is it a great way of starting the year? Apart from the obvious part of this being a book from an author that I really enjoy… it is also one of my New Year’s resolutions to read The Bennet Wardrobe series. I have read two of them so far and I want to read them all (even the ones I have already read). Don Jacobson has created an amazing world where Pride and Prejudice‘s characters originally created by Jane Austen have a new level of adventures. Just for you to have an idea, you could read my review of The Exile: Kitty Bennet and the Belle Époque.
Today Don is sharing a lot of information about the wardrobe and how it works. Moreover, he is giving us a bonus, we have a big part of Chapter 23 waiting for us to enjoy (just keep reading after the giveaway).
Let me (re)introduce you to the author, Don Jacobson:
Don Jacobson has written professionally for forty years. His output has ranged from news and features to advertising, television and radio. His work has been nominated for Emmys and other awards. He has previously published five books, all non-fiction. In 2016, he published the first volume of The Bennet Wardrobe Series—The Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary Journey, novel that grew from two earlier novellas. The Exile is the second volume of The Bennet Wardrobe Series. Other JAFF P&P Variations include the paired books “Of Fortune’s Reversal” and“The Maid and The Footman”. Jacobson holds an advanced degree in History with a specialty in American Foreign Relations. As a college instructor, Don teaches United States History, World History, the History of Western Civilization and Research Writing. He is a member of JASNA-Puget Sound. Likewise, Don is a member of the Austen Authors collective (see the internet, Facebook and Twitter). He lives in the Seattle, WA area with his wife and co-author, Pam, a woman Ms. Austen would have been hard-pressed to categorize, and their rather assertive four-and-twenty pound cat, Bear. Besides thoroughly immersing himself in the JAFF world, Don also enjoys cooking; dining out, fine wine and well-aged Scotch whiskey. His other passion is cycling. Most days from April through October will find him “putting in the miles” around the Seattle area (yes, there are hills). He has ridden several “centuries” (100 mile days). Don is especially proud that he successfully completed the AIDS Ride—Midwest (500 miles from Minneapolis to Chicago) and the Make-A-Wish Miracle Ride (300 miles from Traverse City, MI to Brooklyn, MI).
You can follow and contact Don through different ways:
Bennet looked at his wife’s swollen lips, softly bruised from several deeply loving kisses, and her flushed complexion, as alluring when gracing the countenance of a woman of four-and-forty as that of a girl of nine-and-ten. He was one of the lucky few to have fallen in love with the same woman at both ages.
Thomas Bennet, Master of Longbourn, had always counted himself amongst the few educated gentlemen of his acquaintance. But, he had to travel over 120 years into the future to discover how little he knew about the woman sharing his life.
Once again, the amazing Bennet Wardrobe proved to be the schoolmaster. Tom Bennet’s lesson? Mrs. Bennet had been formed especially for him. Yet, t’would be the good lady herself who taught him the power of the Fifth and Sixth Loves: Redemption and Forgiveness.
Fanny Bennet also would uncover deep wells of courage and inspiration as she stood by her man’s side in the bleak years after World War II. Together they would lead their descendants in pursuit of the beast who had wronged every member of the Five Families. The Bennet Wardrobeseries stands alone… The Avenger takes us on a new journey through The Bennet Wardrobe– an alternate universe rising from Don Jacobson’s vivid imagination and based upon the immortal Pride and Prejudice. The Avenger is another important step leading to the culmination of this enchanting trip: one that has drawn us into its reality to travel side-by-side with richly sketched characters. Each book has left us wanting more. The Bennet Wardrobe series stands alone as a unique result of originality focused on beloved characters as they move—and grow—through surprising plotlines. Lory Lilian, author of Rainy Days Interview: Of things Wardrobe and Avenger
>could not rise past lace, children, confusion, anger, fear
Why now?
The form/not form/color/arc shot throughout the vault, as if rejoicing in its liberation. In its passage, a calming smoothed the matte surface that was the slate of her inner being.
Exagoras agapis? What is that? From where did it come?
>the love that redeems
>given you by the Bennet, grasped by your soul
>the desire to be the better version of self
But why now?
>Founder needs you, your strength. but I cannot…
>too new…draw closer for help
At this, a great china-blue strand whipped across the field. With dread, Fanny observed a night black blade drop and cleave it in twain. One portion shriveled and vanished, the other floated, unanchored.
>take it
As the viable strand passed into her possession, she was surrounded by dunes covered with carpets of roses…of all colors. The sound of the sea swished in her core, and she sensed another approaching, sweeping down from behind the crest of the sandy mounds. Then all sound was cast in the richest of green hues.
>mother Gardiner-Bennet
Do I know you?
>i am of yours…not the Countess, but her guide…here for moment.
Are you suggesting that you are “neither Kitty nor Kate” but are like mine, but hers?
Rosa Chinensis like what I introduced from Mama’s garden into Longbourn’s?
>…Gardiner is mother bush from which all Bennet roses bloom…
>…Founder cannot succeed without the rosa merytonensis…
>…help him, mama…ma…ma………..ma….
A great wind arose and swept the emerald filament off into infinity…and silence resumed. A tear slid down from beneath a closed lid as Mrs. Bennet realized that, for all the abuse and disquiet she had absorbed over four-and-ten years in the wilderness, she was the missing link.
From Chapter XVI … Squaring her shoulders, she spoke in a low, but firm voice, “You saw me just now. You may have thought I was not attending to that which you were saying. I assure you that I was…on one level. “However, most of my senses were elsewhere. T’is akin to a trance, I imagine. I fall into it when I clear away all distractions and carefully focus my eyes on something like the leaves above us or the upper corner of a room where two walls and the ceiling meet. That permits me to separate myself from my cares and concerns, something I wish I had done these four-and-ten years past. “As my concentration deepens, my eyes eventually drift shut, the outside world vanishes, and, with my mind clear, I find myself able to commune with…with…oh, I do not know with what or whom. T’is a force, a power, a being. I have always called her my Guide. “We have conversations. I ask her questions, and she helps me find true solutions to my problems where, in my consciousness, I would seek to derive emotional comfort from false or partial solutions. These invariably lead to nowhere. “Consider the ultimate false solution. “I forced you to bow to my demand that each of our beloved girls come outwhen she reached five-and-ten. I wanted each to steal a march on other young ladies in her cohort; to attract the attention of a marriageable man and secure her…my…future. “While the first four avoided disaster, we now know what my need to protect the girls from the entail led to with the fifth. Lydia will enjoy none of the perquisites relished by our other girls who waited until after their twentieth year to wed.” Fanny had once again clambered off the fallen tree trunk, so comfortable for her long-legged husband, but a bit elevated for a woman who barely troubled five feet when measured in her satin dance slippers. She stood facing Bennet and made her case with hard-edged hand gestures and broad arm sweeps as if the bowl of Oakham’s slope rising above was home to benches filled with eager students. From time to time her sky-blue eyes would settle on Tom’s hazel orbs and her voice dropped as she sought to drive home her points. “False solutions, Tom, are the path to ruin,” she continued. “I know. “T’is not that I had forgotten about my Guide or what I could accomplish with her aid, but rather I was so disturbed after…after…well…the babe…that I could not have settled myself long enough to seek her out. “I became more and more like my sister; concerned about fripperies and gossip and not on our family. Would that I could have modeled my comportment after Edward.”
How did you enjoy the interview and the excerpts? I believe Don has treated us with so much information and so much insight in the Bennet Wardrobe that some of you may want to go right now and buy this book (or the whole series):
Chapter XXIII The “New” Carlton Club, St. James Street, London, September 1, 1947 Liebermann’s assertion about Bennet Eyes sent Detachment Anubis scrambling as this was the first real clue they had uncovered besides the murderer’s rank and service branch. A trusted forensic artist had been sent over for an impromptu Deauville vacation—something about which her husband and children were justifiably thrilled. Liebermann sat with her, much to Madame Liebermann’s displeasure, for two whole days until an accurate sketch of the subject was generated. Now Anubis had the first item that could be tacked upon the wall in a meeting room, given over to their exclusive use, deep beneath Lincoln’s Inn. Over the following years, hundreds of documents, photographs, and other scraps, culled from a thousand different sources, would find their way onto the beige panels in that subterranean keep. More would be posted and then removed. But the pencil sketch with hazel green eyes remained, the paper gradually yellowing with age. Still, a portrait of this nature did nothing to bring to light the identity of the culprit. Only Liebermann could pick him out of a crowd, but chances were microscopic that the two would ever be in the same place at the same time. Thus, Bennet had resolved to place the Sergeant where he would do the most good. To that end, Bennet had prevailed upon the Earl to break through the bureaucratic logjam that was modern government to enable Anubis to insert Liebermann into the bowels of the captured SS Archives consolidated in the suburbs of Nuremberg. There, the sergeant would soon be able to flip through hundreds of thousands of documents collected from the remains of Himmler’s headquarters in Berlin and satellite complexes across Hitler’s Festung Europa that had been captured either whole or in part. Much was duplicated and nearly all was on paper. The process of microfilming the trove had barely begun and was anticipated to take years. However, there was a chance that Liebermann would find his man’s photo attached to a personnel record. However, Bennet assumed that the Sergeant’s patience would fail long before achieving positive results. Yet, try they must for all earlier efforts had generated nothing. The Earl resolved to pull two specific levers to execute Bennet’s wishes. The first was to employ Lizzy Schiller’s wartime service with General Clay. He gambled that the High Commissioner of the Military Government (US) would respond to an appeal directly delivered by his former driver to allow a demobilized German subaltern into the closely held archives, usually available only to the Nuremburg Tribunal attorneys. Using Lizzy as his emissary likely would guarantee the High Commissioner would consent to a meeting, however brief. Clay knew Lizzy’s background and connections from his earlier history with the young lady. And, knowing what he did of Matlock’s other role, Clay would instantly accept a verbal message from Mrs. Schiller. Lizzy’s maid pulled the young matron’s WREN uniform from storage and brushed it, all the while wondering if birthing a young heir for the Schiller line would have rendered the question of the outfit ever fitting again asked and answered. However, Mrs. Schiller’s daily rambles across the hillsides flowing down from the Peak toward her mother’s seat at the rose-colored sandstone mansion in Derbyshire proved to be the deciding factor. With one or two minor adjustments to the rich blue skirt to accommodate Lizzy’s now-womanly hips, the outfit settled onto her frame as if it had not been put aside since May 1945. Lizzy and Alois boarded an American DC-3 at RAF Biggin Hill, and the aircraft soared toward occupied Germany. Operation Anubis came to life as soon as the transport’s wheels left the ground. The Earl, however, refused to place all his eggs in the figurative single basket. That was the purpose of this session in the bastion of British Conservative Party politics. This was his second pressure point. The Earl had been warmly greeted by the Carlton’s gatekeepers. However, they balked at admitting the stranger who accompanied him. While Matlock was long seen as apolitical by the Club’s staff, his more unusual activities had left him with an after-image, an aura that was more soiled than pristine; nothing confirmed, of course. The sense of his being involved in a world that would normally be eschewed by the more proper gentlemen who inhabited the paneled rooms overlooking St. James Street imbued attendants with a sense of caution that precluded admitting any unknown persons accompanying the Earl. The staff, therefore, sought to refuse admittance to Bennet. M, in his guise as Matlock, had an ace up his sleeve. However, as Thomas Fitzwilliam was an eminently honorable man, he would have found that metaphor to be distasteful. In truth, the capital card had been face-down—and un-played—on the table for more than a century…literally from the first day of the Club in 1832. “Now, Henderson, I do appreciate that you have taken it upon yourself to uphold the Club’s standards. However, I assure you that Mr. Bennet has the same right to be here as I do,” Matlock vowed. The employee was unfazed. “I am sorry, my Lord. I do not recognize the gentleman, and, while you vouch for his bona fides, I am not comfortable in seeing him enter here as he may be tainted with unsavory associations. You understand, sir, that I must protect the reputation of the Club,” the man respectfully replied. Throughout this, Bennet watched, bemused, his grandson, a peer of the realm, doing battle with a banty rooster decked out in the finest livery and determined to protect his coop. Shaking his head, the Earl let drop a hammer, one that carried little meaning to the attendant beyond shifting the discussion to a level far above his pay grade, “Please send for Managing Director Matthews. Advise that he needs must bring the Club’s membership roster found in his safe. There is but one.” Henderson picked up a telephone receiver from behind his podium and briefly spoke into it conveying the Earl’s instructions. Within five minutes, a compact man bustled down the grand staircase. In his arms he cradled a large volume. Striding across the lobby, he motioned the Earl and Bennet over to a large table flanking the wall adjacent to the entrance. Taking a moment to arrange the leather-bound book on the slab, he turned to the two men. Brief introductions were made. The Earl then took over the conversation. “Matthews: do you accept me at my word that the gentleman accompanying me is a certain Mr. Thomas Michael Bennet of Meryton, Hertfordshire?” The official assured him that he would never presume to question the veracity of any statement made by the Earl of Matlock. Fitzwilliam continued, “Excellent. Then I repeat my assertion made to Henderson. Mr. Bennet has every right to enter the halls of the Carlton Club either by my side or without me—in fact his right to be here long predates mine.” A look of outrage at the idea that someone who had not been vetted by the Membership Committee entering the sacred precincts reshaped Matthews features. He chose a milder tack, though, when he demurred by saying, “I have never heard of Mr. Bennet, and I have been associated with the Club since your father’s day.” The Earl glared and uttered an imprecation under his breath before firmly sticking a pin in the supercilious attitude with which he had been met, “Then look in your roster, man…” Had the Earl finally slipped a cog, Matthews wondered? As the Carlton’s Managing Director, part of his remit was to know every active member and have at least a passing awareness of those who had stepped away from Westminster’s fray and had permanently retreated to their country homes. To his mind, this gentleman from Hertfordshire—more likely a forger from Prague given the number of words the man had not uttered—resembled nobody Matthews knew. He did bear an uncanny resemblance to Matlock. Perhaps, Matthews mused, the Earl had taken to travelling with a body double: someone destined to take a bullet otherwise intended for him? In any event, this person was not Carlton caliber, of that Matthews was sure. Matthews opened the great roster with exaggerated movements indicating that he truly believed that he had been dragged from his office on a fool’s errand. He turned toward the back of the book which drew an exasperated sigh from Matlock. “No, Matthews…the front of the book. Look at the first two pages.” Matthews shrugged, perhaps suggesting that aristocrats, particularly those of the older families, had been known to become increasingly eccentric in their middle years. He knew that those first two pages contained the names of the Carlton’s founding members who had met at the Thatched Coffee House in the aftermath of the Great Reform Act of 1832. While there were some legacy members who had descended from the Originals, their names were entered later in the book. But, he turned to the front of the ledger and dutifully ran his well-manicured forefinger down the columns of member names and their sponsors. And, there on the second page, about halfway down he discovered something quite shocking.
Thos. M. Bennet of Longbourn, Meryton, Hertshire
by Lord Matlock, Genl. Sir Richard Fitzwilliam KCB
“And, Matthews, if you check your records, this member, number 93, has regularly paid his dues for 115 years,” the Earl growled, “but, I do not expect you to question the plausibility of such as this. Rather, I insist that you cease any further interference and that you admit Mr. Bennet immediately. He has a meeting with the Member for Woodford.[i] “You will now forget his antecedents. Know that if he wishes to dine here or entertain, his charges will be handled in the usual manner, unless, of course, you would prefer that he frequent his other club—the Reform.”
***
“Officious bureaucrat,” groused Matlock as he and Bennet left the puzzled manager and amused doorman behind as they climbed the great staircase to the member’s lounge that stretched across the St. James’ front of the structure. Bennet chuckled and laid a comforting hand on his grandson’s shoulder, “Now, Tom, you will give yourself an apoplexy if you let every little thing set your teeth on edge. I was finding the sparring match between you and Mr. Matthews to be quite amusing. “He reminded me of my cousin Coll…” The Earl cut him off snapping, “Nobody mentions that man’s name in the hearing of any of the Five Families.” Astonished at the reproof, Bennet backtracked, “That I did not know. You will have to explain the reasoning behind this injunction sometime. “What I had planned to say was that Matthews had many of the more irritating qualities that my…cousin…exhibited minus the oleaginous bowing and scraping for which he was legend. “Now, before we walk in, please tell me something about the man we are to meet.” A thumbnail of one of the century’s dominant political figures followed and occupied the remainder of their passage across the vast wood-paneled room, their footsteps muffled by the deep pile of exquisite carpeting. The room itself was nearly deserted as members were still making their way back to the capital with the completion of their vacation journeys and the end of the house party season. Individual members consoled themselves in their loneliness with copies of the day’s broadsheets and early afternoon bracers of whiskey or brandy. However, one small grouping in the pre-eminent position of the room’s geography—adjacent to the great fireplace, cold now—drew Matlock and Bennet to it. There they saw a roly-poly figure of a man, his bald pate shining in the sunlight streaming through the great windows that occupied one long wall. Occupied with a tall whiskey and soda and an equally imposing cigar upon which he puffed from time-to-time, the gentleman was surrounded by two acolytes who relaxed in the great man’s presence, comfortably laughing as he offered some trenchant commentary. The younger men, solely from their manner, impressed Bennet not as lackeys but rather as lessers in the orbit of one who was the first amongst equals. Winston Churchill, out of office for two years, was now in his 73rd year and continued as leader of the Conservative Party. His health had recovered from the vicissitudes of his wartime service, and he once again relished the rough and tumble of parliamentary politics. Churchill regularly heaped unique levels of scorn upon the Labour government headed by Clement Atlee, continuing his thirty-year battle against the dangers of Socialism first launched in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. Already he had begun to feel the pain of having outlived many of his contemporaries who had already succumbed to upper class lifestyles dominated by cigars, drink, and rich food. Thus, he had necessarily surrounded himself with men twenty to thirty years his junior: good men, but of a different generation without personal memories of late 19th Century global forces that had shaped Churchill’s life and worldview. Two of those, R.A. Butler and Brendan Bracken, sat by him now.[ii] The former premier espied Matlock and his guest crossing the floor in his direction. He waited until the pair had pulled to a halt in front of his station before he curtly dismissed the other two gentlemen saying, “Rab, Brendan…leave us.” To their credit, neither man, so familiar each was with Churchill’s behavior, bridled at their man’s brusque manner. They simply rose and, unintroduced, nodded to the Earl and Bennet before departing. The Leader of the Opposition gazed upwards from his leather wingback. He had known Matlock for decades, both as a young man before his elevation upon his father’s death as well as his wartime M, having swept the previous master of British intelligence out the door with the rest of the appeasers. Churchill’s interest was arrested, though, by the remarkable resemblance between the two men in front of him. Oh, there were differences. Matlock seemed a softer, newer version—Fitzwilliamed, it seemed, on top of another stock—of the other fellow; the latter had apparently sprung from an earlier graft upon their common family tree. However, dismissing superficial differences, the two men were clearly related. The most distinctive variance was to be found in their eyes, similar in their unique cast, something which was held in common by every member of the Five Families, but different in color. The Earl’s were his father’s steel grey. The other gentleman’s eyes were hazel. Churchill, turning his penetrating gaze directly upon Bennet, drank in a vision of the male version of someone he had last encountered in early 1940. As was frequently his wont when he turned something over in his capacious mind, muttered in sotto voce, “So, you would have me meet a Mr. Bennet of Hertfordshire. Is he the same Bennet written about by Miss Austen, I wonder? I recall talking with Holmes about his belief that Pride and Prejudice was a work of non-fiction published as a romantic novel. “This fellow does look like a former Miss Bennet who, with her husband the Earl, dined with Clemmie and I at Selkirk when we abandoned Sunny and Consuelo at Blenheim and dashed off to the Peaks in ’07.”[iii] Then he subsided into himself, content for the moment to await the opening gambit of the Earl of Matlock whom he knew to be as crafty and cagey as any man on the planet. He motioned the two to take up the seats recently emptied by Butler and Bracken. However, M surprised his old employer with something thoroughly unexpected, a remarkable amount of candor. “Winston…I sent you some information on Mr. Bennet when I requested this meeting. I can tell you little beyond that which you already know about him. I will offer that he has travelled an unimaginable distance to be here today. I trust that you will allow me to leave you in the dark concerning Bennet’s background, although I am certain that you may have already arrived at some conclusions that you may wish to discuss with Lindemann.[iv] “Beyond some intentional smudging around the edges, I want to apprise you of the true reason we are here today. “Bennet and I need your help in convincing Atlee to allow one of our people free rein in the SS archives collected at Nuremburg. “I have asked Bennet’s help in tracking down the SS colonel who orchestrated the death of my mother, my son, his wife, and their two children along with over a dozen other innocents since the end of the war. Mr. Bennet has a peculiar and equally strong interest, akin to my own, in bringing this monster to justice; his obsession is one which would do our friends in Palestine credit. “We have created a special detachment in MI6—limited to only a few trusted persons, taking a page from Holmes’ pursuit of Moriarty—that will strain neither the resources of the agency nor the black portions of the broader budget. Instead, the Five Families, as this is predominantly their concern, will bear the cost…and I advise you that we are prepared to beggar our treasuries to catch this creature. “We have already eliminated the actual trigger men in an operation at the end of last month. Now we pursue their leader, a man who has wreaked so much havoc upon our families,” Matlock explained. Churchill blinked as he digested the aristocrat’s presentation. He already had determined that he would intercede with the Prime Minister, but, in his own way, he needed to glean a nugget of something which the Earl had intentionally left unsaid. He would get the measure of Thomas Bennet and then gracefully subside having had his entertainment. He tried to pin Bennet using his fiercest glare before launching his assault. “Now, Mr. Thomas Bennet of Hertfordshire, tell me why you must send someone to crawl through Himmler’s sewer?” Churchill aggressively demanded. Bennet sat back for a moment. The politician’s manner reminded him of his brother Gardiner when the man had begun a complicated negotiation and was seeking to put his opposite number on his back foot. However, Thomas Bennet, MA, Cambridge, ’82, had not wasted his time in the halls of academe. He knew how to deal with examination boards made up of older men with calcified minds. Churchill, surely a descendant of Queen Anne’s great captain John Churchill, was not a victim of the worst of all sins, an unexamined mind. He would not be a push-over and would never respect a man who could not join in battle on the same level. An audacious move would be the only path forward. Bennet, thus, exposed his Queen. Surprising his host, Bennet turned to the Earl and addressed him as his subordinate, “Tom, I must ask you to rise and stand post over us to ensure that none may overhear. I am invoking our new rule.” Surprising Churchill, the Earl, long known in some circles to be Britain’s most powerful non-member of Government, simply nodded and rose to his feet in a manner identical to that recently exhibited by two members of the Conservative Shadow Cabinet. He moved off a few paces and faced the room, beginning a metronomic scan that took in every person within fifty feet. Then Bennet addressed his interrogator, his Hertfordshire “r’s” rolling off the back of his tongue, making his speech sound even more archaic in a London so recently overrun by Americans and their multitude of accents reshaping and coloring their version of the King’s English. “Mr. Churchill, I think you are taken with the extraordinary circumstances of a commoner such as I who would presume to order about an Earl, let alone the head of the British Secret Services. I assure you that young Tom would normally have bridled at such cavalier treatment by one so beneath his station. “Matlock has assured me that you are a man used to keeping confidences of the greatest sort. And, thus, I will offer you a taste of Mankind’s greatest secret. Prior to this, the treasure has been revealed to only two others who were not at the very least married into the Bennet Family or one of its branches. “You may have learned of the abduction of Miss Catherine Bennet who later became Lady Fitzwilliam, the Countess of Matlock. The young Earl, Henry was his name…” Churchill briefly interrupted, “He was one of my dearest friends as was his wife Lady Kate.” Bennet continued after a beat, “Ah yes, Lady Kate. In any event, the 11thEarl consulted with Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson as he searched for her. To meet the detective’s unusual demand for complete transparency, this Earl told him the secret. “The information I share could shake the foundation of nations if transmitted into the wrong hands. However, we have determined that we must eschew the old ways and include those who would help us in our time of need. “This explains why you see before you a man born in 1760 seeking vengeance for his murdered daughter and asking for your help.” A waiter was quickly summoned to refresh Churchill’s drink and to offer Bennet and the Earl their choice of libation. Bennet smiled and chose to indulge himself in one of his favorite drinks—vintage port—in this case a generous snifter of 1931 Quinta do Noval Nacional. After all, he assumed that he was a rich as Croesus and would have ample metal to cover his drinks bill. Then two cigars appeared, duplicating the generous tube sported by Churchill. In a deepening blue haze, the Edwardian politician and the Regency gentleman leaned toward one another and suspended the rest of the world for a while.
…
[i]Winston S. Churchill (1874-1964) was the member for Woodford from 1945 to his retirement in 1964.
[ii]R.A. “Rab” Butler (1902-1982) served in many high offices in Conservative governments beginning in 1938 and ending in 1965 These included Chancellor of the Exchequer and Foreign Secretary. Brendan Bracken (1901-1958) served in the Cabinet in WWII, was considered one of Churchill’s closest political allies and, if possible, friends, and founded the modern version of The Financial Times.
[iii]Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, 9thDuke of Marlborough, known as “Sunny” and his first wife, Consuelo, formerly Vanderbilt, one of The Buccaneers (see Edith Wharton).
I’m really happy to be part of this blog tour. Unwrapping Mr. Darcy is what I needed to read at this point: a modern variation, not a very agonising plot, just the exact amount of angst, a very decided Darcy and an extremely stubborn Elizabeth.
Sometimes when I am reading a modern variation I just need a nice story with a… spoiler alert!
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Happy ending! (What did you expect?)
Firstly, let me (re)introduce you to the author:
L.L. Diamond is more commonly known as Leslie to her friends and Mom to her three kids. A native of Louisiana, she spent the majority of her life living within an hour of New Orleans before following her husband all over as a military wife. Louisiana, Mississippi, California, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, and now England have all been called home along the way.
After watching Sense and Sensibility with her mother, Leslie became a fan of Jane Austen, reading her collected works over the next few years. Pride and Prejudice stood out as a favourite and has dominated her writing since finding Jane Austen Fan Fiction.
Aside from mother and writer, Leslie considers herself a perpetual student. She has degrees in biology and studio art, but will devour any subject of interest simply for the knowledge. Her most recent endeavours have included certifications to coach swimming as well as a fitness instructor. As an artist, her concentration is in graphic design, but watercolour is her medium of choice with one of her watercolours featured on the cover of her second book, A Matter of Chance. She is also a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Leslie also plays flute and piano, but much like Elizabeth Bennet, she is always in need of practice!
Leslie’s books include Rain and Retribution, A Matter of Chance, An Unwavering Trust, The Earl’s Conquest, Particular Intentions, and Particular Attachments. She is currently presenting Unwrapping Mr. Darcy released on October 31st, 2018, and has an original modern novel that has some Austen inspiration, hopefully releasing Spring 2019.
Now, I will give you a bit more about the book, enjoy the blurb:
Elizabeth Bennet’s first day at Darcy Holdings was turning out to be everything she’d imagined—that is until she met her new boss William Darcy. True, he’s hotter than Hades but he’s also rude, abrupt, and stares at her as though she’s committed some grievous sin. If only she could avoid him, but her friends’ not so brilliant ideas keep throwing them together.
William Darcy put his foot in his mouth when he met Elizabeth Bennet! Now, he’s head over heels for her and needs to apologize, but how? The dreaded office Secret Santa draw is a possibility, but would that help or would it only make things worse?
Twenty-five days of gifts? It’s creepy and overzealous if you ask Elizabeth. And what’s with this weird reaction she has to Mr. Darcy? He’s an ogre, isn’t he? But what if her friends are correct and he isn’t? Could there be more to him than she assumes? What would happen if she were to take a stab at unwrapping Mr. Darcy?
What do you think?
He is hotter than Hades but… there is always a but with Mr Darcy.
Would you like to buy it? Check below and check what format you would like to buy before buying:
Elizabeth was recommended for a new job, by her sister’s boyfriend. Her super-boss is William Darcy. The same man who thinks she may not be good enough for the job…maybe. However, he changes his mind very quickly. So quick is this change that the “Grinch” wants to have the Secret Santa rigged in order to do a advent calendar/Secret Santa to this new woman in the office. He is very decided but he does not even know why exactly…at the beginning.
You will enjoy the present that Elizabeth gets, one everyday until Christmas Day. The presents are very thoughtful and personalised. It is him who chooses them, another first time for Darcy. Those present are the key point around their relationship, although she does not know who her Secret Santa is. Darcy has helpers all over the place (even if he does not know): Bingley, Jane, Charlotte and Grunt!! (lovely cat)
The cat is essential in the story from the first minute, especially when he destroys items in her house. He is so important that he even gets present on this Advent calendar.
Explosion/disaster: she discovers he is her Secret Santa in, maybe, the worst moment. They are really good at this point in their relationship as they are friends and they are comfortable with each other and something else. However, she cannot believe it! She is furious with him! She is, after all, Elizabeth Bennet.
Christmas Day is an important day, and you will love what happens! It is so sweet 🙂 she does not want him to spend the day on his own. Even less because of her. She “rescues” him and that it is what I can tell you for now…
I am sorry that I may not be very explicit but I do not like to spoil any amusing or lovely scenes form the book. I will just write a few things that I hope will make you wonder: the bathroom has a lovely colour; Elizabeth’s boss is nice, and it is Mr Hurst; having a driver must be really convenient but also very embarrassing…for the driver; Charlotte is sooo annoying (in a good way) 😉
Blog Tour
Fantastic blogs are hosting Unwrapping Mr. Darcy, I recommend you to go and check them!
There is a cat on the picture but I need to point out that he is not a prize of this giveaway!! If he were a prize, I would want him 😀 He is gorgeous!
Even without a real Grunt, Leslie is doing a great giveaway. In the bundle one winner will get:
Unwrapping Mr. Darcy tote bag
Pride and Prejudice quote temporary tattoos
Jane Austen Quote Gift Cards
Pride and Prejudice large postcard
Black cat wine glass
4 Lavender mini bath bombs
1 floral large bath bomb (has lavender buds)
Lavender shower bomb
Lavender bubble bar
Yankee Candle Lemon Lavender Candle
Black cat silhouette coaster
Black cat thermos with spoon
Jane Austen quote postcard
Black cat wine topper (just like Elizabeth’s!)
Click on the link below and follow the instructions to participate:
“But I hate to hear you talking so, like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures. We none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days.” —Persuasion Jane Austen: True romantic or rational creature? Her novels transport us back to the Regency, a time when well-mannered gentlemen and finely-bred ladies fell in love as they danced at balls and rode in carriages. Yet her heroines, such as Elizabeth Bennet, Anne Elliot, and Elinor Dashwood, were no swooning, fainthearted damsels in distress. Austen’s novels have become timeless classics because of their biting wit, honest social commentary, and because she wrote of strong women who were ahead of their day. True to their principles and beliefs, they fought through hypocrisy and broke social boundaries to find their happily-ever-after. In the third romance anthology of The Quill Collective series, sixteen celebrated Austenesque authors write the untold histories of Austen’s brave adventuresses, her shy maidens, her talkative spinsters, and her naughty matrons. Peek around the curtain and discover what made Lady Susan so wicked, Mary Crawford so capricious, and Hettie Bates so in need of Emma Woodhouse’s pity. Rational Creatures is a collection of humorous, poignant, and engaging short stories set in Georgian England that complement and pay homage to Austen’s great works and great ladies who were, perhaps, the first feminists in an era that was not quite ready for feminism. “Make women rational creatures, and free citizens, and they will become good wives; —that is, if men do not neglect the duties of husbands and fathers.” —Mary Wollstonecraft Stories by: Elizabeth Adams * Nicole Clarkston * Karen M Cox * J. Marie Croft * Amy D’Orazio * Jenetta James * Jessie Lewis * KaraLynne Mackrory * Lona Manning * Christina Morland * Beau North * Sophia Rose * Anngela Schroeder * Joana Starnes * Caitlin Williams * Edited by Christina Boyd * Foreword by Devoney Looser
Hello! I am not sure I have a lot more to say now than… finally!! Christina Boyd has done it again: editing a great piece of art with great authors and this time… the ladies are the protagonists! I am still reading Rational Creatures but I can tell you that it is AWESOME 🙂 After having Mr Darcy and his own thoughts and then some dangerous men… we can read some very rational creatures who will tell their stories for us to discover them and know them better.
I have a lot to tell you today about this collection of stories but we have a protagonist today, well, two protagonists: Anngela Schroeder and Emma Woodhouse!
We will start with the real woman, the fictional one will have her say later on; although both are intertwined in this post.
ANNGELA SCHROEDERhas a degree in English with a concentration in British literature and a master’s in education. She has taught high school for twenty years and could imagine no job as fulfilling (other than maybe being Oprah). She loves to travel, bake, and watch college football with her husband of eighteen years and three rambunctious sons. Her weaknesses are yellow cake with chocolate frosting, a ripe watermelon, and her father’s Arabic food, namely grape leaves and falafel. She lives in California where she dreams of Disney adventures and trips across the pond. Follow her on Twitter, Instagram: Anngela Schroeder-Author, and Facebook:
Welcome Anngela Schroeder to My Vices and Weaknesses, thank you for answering some questions related to Rational Creatures.
1) Jane Austen wrote Emma as a heroine “whom no one but myself will much like.” Why do you think she said that?
Emma is much different that the heroines Jane Austen had written up to this point. From sensible Elinor and romantic Marianne, to strong Elizabeth and kind Jane, Emma runs in a completely different league. She is not only wealthy but will be independently wealthy upon the death of her father. She knows this; she knows she does not need a man to secure her future, nor does she actively seek one. She is that girl that everyone hates out of jealousy, but loves because although she’s the spoiled rich girl, she still means well through her naiveté. Emma is not as relatable as the other characters, yet we still find ourselves rooting for her and Mr. Knightley because of Mr. Knightley. Without his guidance to help her see her faults, she would succumb to her own arrogance. Just like us-without a good friend or a significant other to ‘ground us,’ we would succumb to our most unflattering characteristics.
2) What appealed to you about Emma for this anthology? Who else would you have liked to write about had Emma not been available?
Emma appealed to me because she was a challenge. I was not as familiar with her nuances as say Elizabeth Bennet, so I really had to research her. I had a few nights lying awake in bed worried about Emma and the road I was leading her down, and how she would retain her characteristics, but still show growth. I worked really hard and felt I captured her essence, but only the readers will know for sure.
If Emma had not been available, I would love to have written Charlotte Lucas. Charlotte created her future- she was a self-made ‘independent’ woman. I have always loved the idea of Charlotte’s motivation and her possibilities.
3) Feminism came years after Jane Austen. How do you define feminism? Do you consider Emma a feminist?
Feminism to me is equivocal to strength-strength of character and choices. Emma is a feminist, not by choice, but by circumstances. She is the mistress of Highbury, a substantial estate; she is treated as her father’s equal, and not a dependent because of her mother’s early death and her father’s reliance upon her. Emma is allowed to voice her opinions and is not made to feel any less because she has them. Her father, and his good friend Mr. Knightley, do not demean or dismiss her leading her to believe she is of worth. This if nothing else, would elevate her to the opinion that she should be taken seriously and has merit in all she does or thinks.
4) What did you like most about writing this story and being a part of this collection?
I loved watching Emma grow up, and giving her the story line and choices that forced her to do so. In Jane Austen’s original novel, she doesn’t experience true hardship; she is only vexed. Yes, the possibility of losing Mr. Knightley throws a wrench in her world, but I wanted her to truly experience uncertainty- that uncomfortable feeling that sits in the pit of your stomach and makes you reevaluate life. I wanted her to recognize, as other characters in the story do, that there was a world in which women were capable and complete; that one didn’t have to put up with other’s choices, but they themselves could create their own happiness. I loved Emma’s interactions, although limited, with Jane Fairfax. So much was said with so few words.
Being part of such a brilliant group of writers was more than I could have hoped for when I began self-publishing five years ago. In truth, I still fangirl over many of them when they publish a new book, and to see my name on the cover with them, and edited by Christina Boyd…I just want to post the cover on my parent’s refrigerator.
Thank you, Anngela, for being here today. I hope the readers may have found them very interesting as you have given a few tiny details that the good observer can easily detect and be intrigued: a wrench in her world, reevaluate the life, etc.
Anngela is sharing an excerpt of her story about Emma Knightley in Rational Creatures. I hope you like this excerpt and I wish you get the compilation asap. I am half way the collection of stories and I can only say: go girls!! As you know, I never say only one thing, so I will also say: one of the female characters that I did not particularly like, after reading her story, she has become a heroine for me!! I am not talking about Emma this time because I have always liked Emma even when she can be infuriating due to her matchmaking.
Enjoy!!
KNIGHTLEY DISCOURSES
It was then that footsteps could be heard from his dressing room and she leaned over to blow out the candle on her bedside table before the door opened to reveal her husband.
Time had not been unkind to George Knightley—his features were showing little sign of aging with only flecks of silver shot through his dark mass of hair. His frame, silhouetted by the warm glow of the fire in the hearth, was still that of an avid sportsman, and Emma’s heart raced as he lifted the counterpane, slipping in next to her.
“Good evening, my dear Emma.” His fingertips traced her arms and he softly kissed her shoulder.
“Good evening, Mr. Knightley”—and she leaned to his touch.
“I am sorry I have been monopolized with Donwell business these last two days.”
“I thought you were avoiding me,” she said with a pout in her voice.
“Avoiding you, my Emma? Whatever for?” He kissed the back of her neck, sending shivers up her spine. “I have actually been thinking much of you lately.”
“Hmm…”
“I have. Have you not been thinking of me?” He kissed her again, causing her breath to catch.
“Yes, I have. I have been thinking of this moment for quite some time.”
“As have I,” he said with a smile which even in the dim light, she could not miss. “And what have you been thinking?”
She turned to face him. Tracing his jaw with her fingers, she slowly arched to kiss him, before pulling away. “I have been thinking about the Winthrops.”
“The Winthrops?” He sputtered. “What Winthrops?”
“I was hoping you could tell me.”
He sat up and leaned on his elbow, the counterpane falling across his waist. “I had not hoped to have this type of intercourse tonight.”
She ran her hand down his back and smiled at the tease in his voice. “I was just curious about the Winthrops.”
His laughter indicated his confusion. “The Winthrops? The family that used to live at Randalls years before the Westons?”
“Yes.”
“Must we speak of them now? I have discussed business all day and would much rather enjoy my wife.” When she did not respond to his entreaties, he asked, “Why are you thinking about them? They were gone long before you would have any recollection of their family.”
She shrugged her shoulders and lamented her impulsiveness. “It is only that Miss Bates received a letter from Jane, and she was content reading the letter until she came to the name ‘Winthrop’. Then she was so flustered that she excused herself and babbled not another word until I called for our carriage to return her home. Does that not seem an oddity for Miss Bates?”
“Emma?”
“Hmm?”—fidgeting with the covers—“I cannot imagine why you have that tone with me. You cannot have any reason to be exasperated when the uncertainty of my crimes loom before me. I am merely having a conversation with my husband.”
“A conversation at this precise moment, my dear wife, is your first crime.” He reached over and twirled the ends of her blonde curls in his fingers. “Your second is that you interrupted my pursuit solely to appease your curious mind about a missive from Jane to her aunt. That is a crime punishable with transport to Australia.” He slid his hand slowly down her arm before raising her hand and kissing the inside of her wrist. “The third: you are obviously on a meddling mission. Maybe some scheme involving Miss Bates. I will warn you now, under no circumstance, are you to allow that clever mind of yours to take up matchmaking again!”
“Matchmaking? I never said anything about a manor matchmaking!” She squealed, sitting up and clapping her hands. “I knew it! You must tell me, George. I have been riddled with curiosity.”
She could see the resignation in his face as he leaned back against the headboard. “Emma….”
“George, darling. I am a married woman of thirty-one. I have four children. Matchmaking was in my youth. I am only concerned for an old friend.”
She could feel him studying her and hoped her carefully regulated voice showed no cause for suspicion.
“Very well. I will tell you, Emma. But nomatchmaking.” She nodded soberly until he seemed to believe her, then began. “The Winthrops were a highly esteemed family who owned Randalls before it passed to the previous owner before the Westons.”
“Yes, that is what John said yesterday.”
“John? You have discussed this with my brother, then? You arequite invested—”
“Solely for a friend.”
He snorted. “Their brood was a few years older than John and me, save the youngest girl. But our mothers had been at school together, and so we were either at Randalls or they were at Donwell often. I am surprised John did not tell you this.”
“Oh, you know your brother. I suppose he could not stir himself to remember.” After a moment, she asked, “How would that have affected Miss Bates?”
“Their youngest son was the same age as Miss Bates—”
“Miss Bates is only few years older than you?”
“You knew that, Emma.”
“I most certainly did not!”
“Hetty was always amiable. She would make us little boats to sail on the pond when her father, the vicar, would call. She would play hide-and-seek and other childish games with us. Yet when Edmund Winthrop was visiting, we boys did not exist.”
“Did she set her cap at him?”
“We were never certain.”
Emma paused, absorbing the new information and then— “Forgive me. It is only that you seem so much younger than Miss Bates.”
Pulling her close, he laughed into her hair and said, “Because I chose wisely in a bride who would forever keep me young.” He tucked a curl behind her ear. “Now, the Winthrops. I must say, I remember a time when John and I were quite disgusted with Edmund and would have challenged him if we could have formulated the idea. We viewed Hetty Bates as quite our own and were quite put out when the Winthrops visited at the same time.”
“Youwere smitten with Miss Bates?” she asked in disbelief. “George, I must say, all I thought I knew of the world is now amiss.”
A deep chuckle rolled from his lips. “Now you are being nonsensical. I am relating the musings of a young boy of ten who favored Miss Bates solely for her skills at making paper boats and pilfering lemon biscuits from her cook.”
“As long as anyfeelings you had for her were of a childish nature…” She kissed him now, reminding him that paper boats were for children and how there were many more advantages to choosing her.
“Emma, darling, you are the most infuriating woman!” He pulled her close and kissed her breathless. “Hetty Bates was a skilled paper boat builder. You, Mrs. Knightley, have other arts and allurements.”
“My Emma”… swoon!
What do you think about the Knightleys? I simply adore this story and I will just say a few things: Emma gets better with age, she is more clever than some people may expect and she loves her husband dearly and she will fight for their marriage. (Well… who does not love Mr Knightley? 😉 )
Why not buying today Rational Creatures? You could do it on the following links (check you Amazon site if it is not included below):
Such an amazing compilation of stories is being discovered during the whole blog tour. I recommend you to check the ones already written and wait for the following ones.
What a better ending of this post than having a great giveaway!!
Rational Creatures SUPER Giveaway: The Random Name Picker winner review all blog comments and select one winner from these blog stop comments during the tour for all 21 prizes: Winner’s choice of one title from each authors’ backlist (that’s 16 books, ebooks, or audiobooks), our bespoke t-shirt/soap/candle; #20, a brick in winner’s name to benefit #BuyABrick for Chawton House; and #21, the Quill Collective anthologies in ebook or audiobook.
Make sure you leave a comment to be entered to get a chance to win one of these prizes!
The giveaway ends November 15th, 2018 and is open to international winners.
I am extremely happy to introduce a new author here in My Vices and Weaknesses. You may think that I am always happy to do that, and yes, it is true. However, I am even a bit happier this time as we have Belén Paccagnella, an Argentinian author, that’s it, a Spanish-speaking person! As a Spanish-speaking person myself, I am extremely glad to have even more people from other nationalities involved in JAFF. I know… we already have Rumanian, French, Pakistani and many other nationalities, which is awesome; but, as I said, this is the first Spanish-speaking author that I am introducing and I am excited!!
Too much preamble already, please welcome: Belén Paccagnella.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Belén Paccagnella discovered the world of Jane Austen fan fiction after watching the 1995 BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice. In her teens, she lived in Brazil when her family moved to the city of Curitiba due to her father’s work. She moved back to Buenos Aires a few years later, where she studied agronomy but finally pursued a different career and started working in the development administration of shopping centres.
In 2001, she started writing both Regency and modern stories adapted from the Pride and Prejudice storyline, merging drama, humour, and adventure while creating characters with unique traits.
Belén still lives in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, where she shares her home with her daughter and her pets while spending her time working, reading, and writing.
Belén is bringing us Obstacles, a modern Pride and Prejudice variation that I have enjoyed very much.
Not all obstacles are restricted to the show-jumping arena… Though Elizabeth Bennet lives an uneventful life instructing young equestrians at Longbourn, the family farm, she dreams of winning a show-jumping competition on Liddy, her spirited mare. But her life is upended when a team of world-renowned riders arrives at Netherfield, the neighbouring estate, and uses it as their training headquarters. As she assists the newcomers and their prize-winning mounts, she meets William Darcy, a wealthy and arrogant—albeit talented—rider with Olympic aspirations. He first insults and then ignores Elizabeth, and her feelings teeter between disgust at his hauteur and admiration for his equestrian prowess. As she discovers first-hand the rigors of a world for the elite, will Elizabeth change her perspective about love, trust, and the foibles of her own family?
Originally known as Obstacles to Overcome, Obstacles pays homage to Pride and Prejudice in the highly competitive world of equestrian show jumping.
Do you want to buy the book? You could do it here:
Very entertaining modern variation of Pride and Prejudice. Darcy is a top horse rider and Elizabeth is an amateur rider/trainer who actually starts working as a “stable boy” for Darcy when he and his team come to work near where she lives. As you can imagine: an insult here, ignoring there, Wickham over there and so on = Elizabeth hates Darcy.
The main theme here is horses and riding in the higher level of competitions, which is a topic that I knew very little and it is refreshing. Moreover, Belén Paccagnella shows us a very “funny” Bennet family. Jane is a bit more modern, she is heartbroken when Bingley leaves but she quickly recovers after all and takes the most of it. Mary is.. how can I say it… weird? extravagant? special? I am sorry for describing like that, I tend to like Mary, but I think you will laugh at her hobby that may become an occupation… Then we have Kitty, a bit Lydia-like if I may say so… Fanny Bennet is a bit more psychoanalysed and she has a really good moment before the epilogue. Thomas Bennet… hmmm… I have not really liked him. I imagine that Belén has redeemed him on the second part of the book when he is not really against the couple. Even though, I did not like his behaviour.
Spoiler alert!!
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there is a very nice happy ending with a lovely epilogue.
I have found this Elizabeth even more obstinate, headstrong girl on the first half of the book until they “solve” their problems and misunderstandings. She is extremely against Darcy. We could say that his first declaration of attraction was not only offensive because he talked badly about her family in negative terms… maybe, again, it was misunderstood.
Darcy is clueless and Elizabeth too when it comes to understanding each other and thanks to Ann(e) de Bourgh and Lady Catherine, sí sí (yes yes), thanks to them, everything starts to straighten out. I have enjoyed soooo much the scene with Elizabeth and Ann!! It is so well prepared, just remember: it is a trap!!
I would just point out that England’s Hottest Horseman (EHH) is really sweet although not always in the way that another person may expect.
Charlotte Lucas is more jovial and maybe Wilbur Collins is pedantic, but he is a good man… apparently.
George Wickham… despicable. Where you expecting something different from him?
Question: what if he is the one? just the one? no one else? I found this extremely sweet. (Are you a bit lost? Read the book 😉 )
Blog Schedule
Do not miss excerpts, interviews and much more about Obstacles.
Eight eBooks copies of Obstacles! The international giveaway runs until midnight, September 30, 2018. You do not have many obstacles to participate, just click on the link below and follow the steps. Please read the terms and conditions below. Buena suerte 🙂
Readers may enter the drawing by tweeting once a day and daily commenting on a blog post or a review that has a giveaway attached for the tour. Entrants must provide the name of the blog where they commented. If an entrant does not do so, that entry will be disqualified. There will be one winner per contest and each winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter.
Muchas gracias, Belén, por estar hoy con mis lectores, no son muchos de momento pero son fieles y muy simpáticos 🙂
Today, I am very happy to introduce you to Ann Galvia, a new author who has never been at My Vices and Weaknesses. Ann is bringing her latest novel What’s Past is Prologue, a variation of Pride and Prejudice.I will be reviewing today this novel, so let me introduce you first to the author:
Ann started writing sometime before she knew how letters functioned. Her first books were drawings of circus poodles heavily annotated with scribbles meant to tell a story. Upon learning how letters were combined to represent words, she started doing that instead. This has proven to be much more successful.
Sometime after that, she decided she wanted to study Anthropology and sometime after that, she decided she liked cats more than dogs. And sometime after that, she decided to become an educator and teach a new generation of kids how to combine letters to represent words, and use those words express ideas.
And sometime after that, she realized all she really wanted to do was write, which probably should have been evident from the beginning.
Before getting to the dissection of the novel, read the description, I hope you like it.
Elizabeth Darcy has her eye on the future.
Before her marriage, she saw herself making the best possible choice. Her husband saved her family from ruin. All he asked in return was her hand. Secure in his good opinion, Elizabeth married him. Only with hindsight and his cryptic warnings that passion is not immutable does Elizabeth question her decision. Her solution? Give him a son as soon as possible. Once his lust for her has been slaked, this service she has rendered him will ensure her value.
The newlyweds are summoned to Rosings Park almost the moment they are married. Though the estate can boast of beautiful grounds, Elizabeth and Darcy arrive to find devastation. A flood has swept away Lady Catherine’s last hopes of hiding debt and years of mismanagement. She expects Darcy to shoulder the recovery efforts.
The effort to save Rosings strains the already tense relationship between Elizabeth and her husband. To make matters worse, her presence is met with disdain and disinterest from the family. As the days in the besieged estate drag on, Elizabeth slowly untangles the histories and secrets of her new relations.
Like Elizabeth’s marriage, the crisis at Rosings is the culmination of past events. Disaster need not be the result of only bad choices; good principles have led them astray as well. As for Elizabeth, she barely knows her husband, and loving him might be impossible. Yet, she is determined to save all that she can—her marriage and the estate—and somehow, create the future she longs for.
What do you think? A lot of information to digest and I imagine that some questions may have risen as well.
If you want to buy the book, you can do it on the following links:
Elizabeth and Darcy never met in Pemberley. It was Jane who met Mr Darcy as it was her who went with the Gardiners. Then a lovely reunion with Mr Bingley and then… Lydia’s elopement that can ruin everything!
However, as we know, Darcy made everything right.
Lizzy gets a marriage proposal, again, in a letter, from Darcy because Mr Bennet is too pushy when he asks him why he did what he did for Lydia.
Lizzy accepts but not because she is in love, but because she feels it is the honourable thing to do after all his struggle. (Not a good beginning)
Newly married, they are summoned to Rosings. Elizabeth is treated poorly by Lady Catherine (as you can imagine). However, Elizabeth is always loyal to her husband and supports him.
Darcy faces a big problem in Rosings: the floods have destroyed harvests, houses, etc. and there is no money to be used. Darcy is trying to help Lady Catherine but she keeps being insolent, pedantic and mean… to the point of wanting to kick Mr Collins from the parish because he is the cousin of Mrs Darcy.
Moreover, the cost to help all the farmers, villagers and so on after the flood is too high and Darcy right now cannot help directly as he has lately had some “unexpected payments” to make. Therefore, Darcy’s uncle sends one of his sons, the brother of Colonel Fitzwilliam, to “check” on what Darcy is doing and to confirm the need for such an amount of money. Let’s say that he is not as nice as his brother although he pretends to be. (I hate one of his comments, the one about getting a wife.)
Anne de Bourgh eventually speaks to Elizabeth, not because she hated her before, because she had not much to say. They become cousins and maybe friends eventually…
Georgiana and Kitty, who is to live with the Darcys, are fast friends and they are very good to each other. This will be helpful for everyone.
From my point of view, Lizzy is a bit annoying, she is only worried about not being attractive enough to Darcy for a long time because right now he is “super-in-love” and wants her a lot, but this may not last, as Darcy told her. (I suppose it was jokingly). Elizabeth is worried because she does not want Darcy to tire of her, to realise that he made “a mistake”. She wants to have his heir and spare because then she may not be seen as “a mistake”. However, SPOILER ALERT…
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she may change her mind as we have a happy ending.
I like Ann’s beginning of the chapters with “the girl”, it is a relevant feature to use and it has a meaning later on.
Time to Give Away
Ann is giving away 8 ebooks for eight different winners on this blog tour. It is an international giveaway that you can take part until the midnight of the 18th August 2018.
Just click on the link below and follow instructions. Read the terms and conditions below the link.
Readers may enter the drawing by tweeting once a day and daily commenting on a blog post or a review that has a giveaway attached for the tour. Entrants must provide the name of the blog where they commented. If an entrant does not do so, that entry will be disqualified. One winner will be selected per contest. Each winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter and the giveaway is international.
Even without a real Grunt, Leslie is doing a great giveaway. In the bundle one winner will get:
October 9th / 
Rational Creatures SUPER Giveaway: The Random Name Picker winner review all blog comments and select one winner from these blog stop comments during the tour for all 21 prizes: Winner’s choice of one title from each authors’ backlist (that’s 16 books, ebooks, or audiobooks), our bespoke t-shirt/soap/candle; #20, a brick in winner’s name to benefit #BuyABrick for Chawton House; and #21, the Quill Collective anthologies in ebook or audiobook.
work. She moved back to Buenos Aires a few years later, where she studied agronomy but finally pursued a different career and started working in the development administration of shopping centres.
Sometime after that, she decided she wanted to study Anthropology and sometime after that, she decided she liked cats more than dogs. And sometime after that, she decided to become an educator and teach a new generation of kids how to combine letters to represent words, and use those words express ideas.
